(Following interview ①) Actor Jinyoung shared his thoughts on playing a single dad.
On the afternoon of the 4th at a restaurant in Gangnam District, Seoul, a wrap-up interview was held with Jinyoung, the lead actor of the Genie TV original drama "Ms. Incognito."
"Ms. Incognito," which aired as an ENA Monday-Tuesday drama, is a crime romance drama about a poor female bodyguard who, dreaming of a big break, goes through with a contractual marriage to a terminally ill chaebol chairman and must change her identity and survive for three months to avoid those after the vast inheritance.
In the story, Jinyoung plays Jeon Dong-min, a single dad who farms strawberries in Muchang and raises his son. Through this work, Jinyoung played a "father" for the first time, and he confessed, "For me, the single-dad role itself was a challenge. Because I had just worn a school uniform in my previous work, You Are the Apple of My Eye, the gap was huge. When I first received the script, I thought, 'Single dad? I've never played that role before, what should I do?' But as I read the script, I felt that the unexpected contrast might not be a bad thing."
He said, "At first glance, I don't necessarily look like someone who would be a dad. Since I don't have a dad image, it might come across as a surprising charm when someone like this plays the role, which made it more interesting," but he also complained, "The reason it was so difficult is that when you act from experience, you can use that experience to inform your performance. But in this case, I had no experience at all. I've never been a father, so I couldn't really understand paternal love. I really like children. But liking a child as a friend and liking as a father are different, so that was very hard. I thought about it a lot and tried hard to get close to the child actor."
Despite those efforts, Jinyoung said, "I still feel far from satisfied. If I get a similar role later, I want to try it more deeply," and added, "If I were to give myself a score, 60 points? I'm disappointed. I don't know whether viewers will think, 'Now they really look like a father and son,' or just 'They're cute,' but I still see many lacking and awkward parts. Even so, I felt and learned a lot from this work and gained a lot, so I have no regrets."
When asked whether playing a single dad made him imagine himself as a real father, he answered, "I thought about it a lot this time." He said, "I really like children, so I have thought about it not only for this project but also in my daily life. I wanted to be a father who is like a friend to his child. It would be fun to connect and play together, to play games together — I thought about that a lot. I tried it a little this time, and it made me feel it more. I love children so much, and Yang Woo-hyuk, who played Joo-won, was kind, polite, obedient and cute. That made something tickle in my chest. If I have a son later, I really want to spend happy, fun times. I thought I would live like I had one more friend."
When asked, "Aren't you only seeing the very good parts?" Jinyoung laughed, "Because I experienced it as a fantasy, it might have felt like a fantasy." About the child actor who played his son, he said, "I was so surprised by the acting. It actually put pressure on me. There's a scene where I hold (my son) and cry. The child actor cried first, and then it was my turn to cry, but as soon as it started, tears poured out within a few seconds. I thought, 'He does it so well,' but suddenly it was my turn, and it felt burdensome. I am decades older than that kid, so I had a lot on my mind. But he worked hard and did well," he shared a behind-the-scenes story. (Continued in interview ③.)<
[Photo] OSEN reporter Min Kyung-hoon
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